The trip to Gangtok during the spring of 2008 is undoubtedly the trip of my life even after visiting the top cities in the world.. Feel free to go thru the trip yourself with the pics and so better get started when you have time to enjoy it in its full sense..
I'm sure this blog will be a wonderful listening experience for all of you and lingering memories for the five of us who took the trip..
The Planning
It was 10 am in the morning when I was killing time in my lab with thoughts hovering around our failed plans to visit Gangtok and Darjeeling for about 3 months.. A rush of enthusiasm struck me.. Without having a second thought I called Arun (Motu from now).. "Will you be ready to leave to Gangtok this evening?" was my question.. Motu as always had an yes for trips :) Picked up a piece of paper and jotted down the plan of visit from our Geo Guide Anbu in 5 mins.. Train reservations for 5 all done by 10 30 am..
Viru and Haren (The other two characters in this trip) are as such bindaas and ready in a flash.. Then comes the most important character.. Baby (Sarang) is confused and scared about his prof (Who is the most saint like prof I have ever met).. Somehow we packed our baggage and our baby with it :) Its 12 00 now and the last possible train we can take from Kharagpur to Kolkata is at 12 30 pm followed by our connecting train to Siliguri (base to darjeeling and Gangtok) at 4 pm :) The railway crossings near the insti are closed raising our pulse !! Its always fun calculating minutes for the departure esp when you are late.. Somehow made it to the local train in time.. 2:30 hours to eat up the 112 kms and we are at Howrah station.. 4 pm the Guwahati express moves from Howrah station and we are up for a trip planned in less than 6 hrs :)
Day 1
2 am and we are at Siliguri station. It wasn't as cold as I expected but still worth a thin jacket.. As advised we had to wait till dawn to start the 4 hr drive to Gangtok, up through probably the most beautiful terrain I have ever seen.. 4 am when we ventured out to start the drive there were heaps of cabs looking to pick us up like a bunch of birds flocking at food..
Finalised a "Scorpio" probably the most comfortable off-roader available in India.. 4 hr jouney with a break for tea whenever we felt dizzy !! The beautiful river view (unnamed !) was breath taking and irresistible..
After about a 2 hr drive we had to stop at the interstate border at Sikkim.. A stark contrast on either side of the border showed us the cleanliness of the state of Sikkim unlike other Indian states ! After a brief check for identity cards at the state border we drove for a couple more hours to reach Gangtok..
Gangtok is a small mountain city, filled with monasteries and state parks.. 8 am we felt the gush of cold air in Gangtok.. Its 9 deg C which is probably the temperature of Kharagpur in peak winters ! Guys want to get into the warmth of the hotel room but I always loved a cold gush of air through my lungs..
Head out to find a taxi to visit places in and around Gangtok city.. We had an option for a 5 point or 7 point trip.. Decided to go to 5 point trip to have some time to enjoy the places..
Rumtek Monastery - Buddhist monasteries are a common sight in the north-eastern part of India but this monastery is a famous school for buddhist studies.. For those who love Chinese architecture with colorful decorations this place is heaven.. As other beautiful heritage sites photography is prohibited in this place as well.. Overall a great experience to know some history and traditions of the buddhist.. Most of the buddhist monasteries in India worship their "Guru(Teacher)" rather than Lord Buddha himself.. The idol in the main complex was that of their last Guru..
View point over Gangtok - This is a stop that gives incredible views of the city of Gangtok on a clear fog-less day.. But one have to be lucky for such a sight and we weren't :) It was fog all over even at 12 noon and we could see nothing which is few feet down the valley.. But there were 2 things to mention in the view point.. The hot and delicious "Mo-Mo with spicy chili sauce" (Boiled vegetables inside a pack of rice-flour (I can't describe it better)" takes spot 1.. The next interesting thing is the rental dresses where we can dress ourselves as ancient Chinese monarch..
Botanical Garden - Botanical garden was much of a construction site when we visited since it was under resurrection !! Nothing much to see other than dug up grasslands and dried up plants..
Govt., Art Museum - It was 4 pm when we reached the parking lot of the Govt., Art Museum.. It is supposed to have some of the precious evidences of famous Catalonian architecture.. Unfortunate to see the museum already closed for visitors :(
Buddhist temple - The name of the temple is out of my memory but the splendor stays.. Took a glimpse of how buddhist pay their religious rights..
Returned back to room to look for some restaurant nearby for some good food and crashed on the bed..
Day 2 and 3
The real fun began today.. Got ready early for a trip to Yumthang (120kms from Gangtok).. The journey takes about 8 hrs through roads that give breathtakingly beautiful sights around but takes your breath off with the rugged terrain.. Its landslides, waterfall across roads, temporary army bridges were a challenge well taken up by our Sumo !!
We stopped over at a beautiful waterfall on the roadside... Unnamed but incredibly beautiful and freezing waters sent us crazy.. But none of us were ready to get a shower in that biting cold :) We were literally freezing with the tiny water sprays from the falls within minutes of taking snaps..
Getting back into the warmth of the cab we have to stop for the night at a place called Lachung.. It was a small homestay kind of a thing.. The rooms don't even have a fan but don't need one either :)
After a hot tea we went out to browse the place around.. We could see snow in a nearby place.. Wow what a view that was.. That looked very close but eyes can trick you in places where it snows.. Distances look small and without any aid nobody wants to venture into it when its getting dark.. Have to curb Motu's ( If u remember the characters at the beginning of the trip) enthusiasm to reach the snowing place..
Went around to find a river/stream down the mountain.. The water is even colder than the waterfalls we came through a little while ago reminding us the altitude we were in.. BTW it 12000 feet above sea level.. As we were moving around in the only street of Lachung within minutes we felt our breath becoming harder as its getting colder every minute.. Returned back to room to the comfort of wollen blankets of sheep wool.. 5 of us have to cram ourselves up to get rid of cold in a place that doesn't have a heater.. The first day I slept with a sweater and jacket on !!
Great food by the hosts, temperatures in negative scale and the tiredness of travelling through the rugged terrain, all combined to kill everyone for the night.. I woke up at 6 in the morning to see the golden glimpse of sun's rays on K2 (The 2 highest peak in the world).. As time rolled on the peak became golden, that was out of words and can only be felt.. Kicked up the lazy asses but only one was ready to see the beauty..
Kicked us up for the trip forward to the Indo-china border.. But had to stop 12kms before our destination due to heavy snowfall the previous night.. For those who are new to snow, morning sun is the most dangerous time in snow because its the time when it melts and avalanches are caused..
Had to be content with playing in snow for a couple of hours.. There was a small group of Indian army (around 30 soldiers) heading to the border on foot.. They refused a proposal for a pic with them but advised us not to play in snow for long to avoid frost bites.. Some people have been permanently disabled from frost bites..
Saluted them for heading to a 12km walk in knee deep snow for protecting us.. Had some snaps there and played there to our heart's content in snow.. Haren and I had a contest to bear the cold without a shirt.. Both of us won infact since both of us could do it !! Motu enjoyed things in his own way by rolling around in snow.. Baby who sleeps with a blanket in the Kgp's climate has packed himself up with Jacket and mufflers !!
At one point there was about a 1000 feet rise at 45 deg gradient and could see few little figures of a high altitude patrol party of the Indian army.. Literally amazed to see these guys fight for us where its tough even to survive..
Have to head back to Gangtok before nightfall to avoid a bad night in snow.. It was 11 am and already our vehicle was stuck in snow.. Gathered all our strength and help from fellow drivers to push it out of the snow.. Have to return this favour to several vehicles.. :)
Started our journey back to Gangtok after thanking the host (Esp the aunty) for their fabulous food.. Packed some stuff from them for lunch since we wont get much on the way.. Games in snow and low oxygen levels at such altitude made us tired enough to sleep even while riding through the rugged roads.. There was a heavy competition for lunch from the packed stuff :) It is always fun to steal food from a friend's hand.. A long way back to Gangtok.. When we returned to the hotel we had nothing in mind other than crashing on to the bed..
Day 4
Its time to visit eastern sikkim, supposed to be the most beautiful part of sikkim.. Got ready quite early in the morning (About 9am thou :P).. Gangtok has different taxi stands for reaching different parts of Sikkim.. Today its the eastern one and see you folks at Nathula pass..
Its a cold day all way and suddenly we felt we are in one of the most remote places on the planet (Which is not really true).. But the way to Nathula makes you feel so..
Its snow white everywhere you see and a dark line running through it where we travel.. Stopped in a couple of places on the way to have some pictures but other than that the biting cold kept us inside the vehicle for most of the journey.. It was -8 C at 12 noon and you can imagine on either sides of the noon..
Reached Tsongmo(Changu) lake, a frozen freshwater later at 14000ft above msl !! It is completely frozen at a time which is late spring and almost summer. The temperature was even lower than before and gulped down few lagers.. Getting into our snow boots started our journey towards Nathula pass, the border trading place for Indian and Chinese small scale manufacturers and farmers.. After a series of narrow twists and turns and army barrages stopped over to give lift to a soldier..
It was an interesting 5 min conversation to know the temperature there can drop upto -40C during peak winter and still these guys stay there in their bunkers to let us sleep in our blankets.. Dropped him at his barrage with a salute carried our journey ahead.. There was a open stretch of long road which is very surprising to see in this part of the world.. Before the excitement faded out we saw a warning sign that the road is being watched by chinese posts !! During times of war being on the road is like sitting duck that can be shot at will from a high altitude chinese post..
About 30 mins drive we reached 'Baba Mandir' - a memorial for a group of soldiers washed away by a mountain stream trying to save few of their comrades.. On the way could see some "World's highest" wonders on the way like World's highest cyber-cafe by Sikkim govt., and World's highest ATM and bank branch by SBI etc., After having some crazy pictures around baba mandir drove up further to a remote village along the border to have some fun in the snow.. Hurt yourself in that cold and you will never feel it until you get back to the warmth of hotel room.. Some of us are hurt when playing which we were unaware of..
Drove to a place where the world's highest golf course is situated.. Surprising to see such a vast stretch of flat land at that altitude of more than 12000 ft above msl.. Had some fun playing on a frozen stream and sometimes the ice gave up too :)
This is probably the best day of the trip for most of us because our guide and driver (Single guy) was very friendly !!
We were back to Gangtok at about 5pm and had plans to drive to Darjeeling which is 4 hrs away.. But the rules doesn't allow taxis to start after 5pm so we were almost stuck in Gangtok for the night. We were so desperate to Kanchenjunga at sunrise we overrode the rules to hire a car at extra price and started drive down to Darjeeling.. Reached Darjeeling close to midnight due to some fog delay.. Darjeeling close to mid-night is a place where I didnt wanted to be.. Somehow managed to find a hotelroom (Would prefer to call that bird's nest) to crash for the night..
Final day !!
At 4 30 in the morning, we are all set to drive to tiger hills to see kanchenjunga at sunrise.. Its hailed as 'Golden peak' at sunrise for the color snow gets from sunlight.. We were unlucky to see clouds all over when it was dawn :( Finally managed to get some postcards of the Golden peak :P
(The view we missed) Headed down to few other places in Darjeeling like a memorial, a monastery etc etc., but Darjeeling never stuck to our memories because of the poor mainenance and we weren't interested more than half a day in Darjeeling !! One of the most hyped up tourist spots in India is actually nothing compared to the beauty of Sikkim..
Started the descent from Darjeeling to siliguri where we have a train at 8 30pm.. Reached siliguri quite early and roamed around for some good food.. Our bodies were battered but mentally we were very fresh by the trip..
At 8 30pm we bid good bye to a place where I would like to go back at some part of my life may be with different set of people.. The fun and company we had during this trip is yet to be matched !!
Thank you folks if you are patient enough to read this line :) and see you soon with some other interesting travel experiences..
